Blockbuster deal latest chapter for intriguing NBA
When the Adam Silver era began in February 2014, the new NBA commissioner wasted no time sharing the boldest item on his to-do list.
Surpass the NFL in terms of popularity.
“I think this game should be a rival to football,” he said at the time.
More than three years later, as the NFL has had to navigate its way through the concussion crisis and an 8% ratings decline last season, the NBA continues to progress. Tuesday’s blockbuster trade between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers was the latest example of why.
Little by little, offseason by viral offseason, the NBA has become a year-round affair.
The Finals wrap up in June, but one could argue that the more relevant action starts soon thereafter. The late-June draft bled into July free agency fireworks, which then became an endless summer of superstar shifts all building toward Silver’s goal.
Couple that with the fact that the NBA’s social media footprint is far superior to that of the NFL and every other major sports league — 34 million Facebook likes compared to 16.4 million for the NFL; 26.2 million Twitter followers to 23.9 million; 24.5 million on Instagram to 9.8 million — and you have yourself a booming, buzzy business model for the future.
So much for the Golden State Warriors’ dominance inspiring snores around the globe. In case anyone has lost count of the
league-altering deals that went down these last few months, let’s revisit some of the biggest.
June 19: The Celtics trade the No. 1 pick for the Philadelphia 76ers’ No. 3 and a future firstrounder (Boston takes Jayson Tatum, while Markelle Fultz goes to Philadelphia).
June 22: Jimmy Butler, a three-time All- Star and gold medalist who spent his first six seasons with the Chicago Bulls, is reunited with Tom Thibodeau and his upstart Minnesota Timberwolves. (The Bulls get Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick, Lauri Markkanen.)
June 28: Chris Paul, the ninetime All-Star who had informed the Los Angeles Clippers of his
intentions to opt out in free agency and sign with the Houston Rockets — unless they traded him there instead — gets his wish and joins the James Harden-led squad.
July 1: Paul George, a fourtime All-Star who not long ago was seen as LeBron James’ only archrival in the Eastern Conference, was traded from the Indiana Pacers to Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder after making it clear he wouldn’t resign in the summer of 2018.
July 4: Gordon Hayward, the All-Star small forward who had just led the Utah Jazz to their first second-round playoff appearance since 2010, agrees to sign with the Celtics, who fell to
James’ Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.
Aug. 23: In a move between rivals the likes of which the league had never seen, the Cavs and Celtics swap All-Star point guards — Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas, with Cleveland also netting veteran small forward Jae Crowder, 20-year-old big man Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first-rounder.
In all, that’s six All- Stars relocating to playoff-caliber teams and a high-profile Celtics-Sixers deal that wound up playing a part in Boston’s ability to land Irving.
Amid all that, it was also revealed last week that the Pacers accused the Los Angeles Lakers
of tampering in their open recruitment of George (who is a free agent next summer). The NBA has opened an investigation into the matter.
As blues singer Bonnie Raitt once crooned, “Let’s give ’em something to talk about …”
With every water cooler-worthy headline, the NBA has connected with the cord-cutting crowd and the wisdom of its digital approach becomes more apparent.
That’s not to say the NFL should be scared yet, especially considering this bit of perspective: Despite the most recent NBA Finals having the highest ratings since Michael Jordan’s Bulls won it all in 1998, the Cavaliers-Warriors per-game average of 20.4 million viewers was on par with an average regular-season showing of NBC’s Sunday Night Football (20.3), according to Nielsen TV ratings.
But even with Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and their Warriors teammates still the clear favorites, the sheer volume of relevant NBA story lines has set the stage for another compelling season among their contenders.
And Silver, slowly but surely, is making good on his goal.